My Sacred Book of Shadows

By: Silver Moon Swan

What is Wicca?
Wicca: a loosely organized Pagan religion centering toward reverence for the creative forces of Nature, usually symbolized by a Goddess and God. Wicca is a nature-based, life-affirming belief system that follows a moral code and seeks to build harmony among people and to empower the self and others. We celebrate free, individual thought and dont just follow the crowd without thinking. Wiccans have a close connection with the world around them. We commune with Nature. Every single thing on Earth is a manifestation of the Divine. The Wiccan spiritual experience is shared with Deity alone. It celebrates both physical and spiritual realities where attunement with Deity is coupled with the practice of magic. Wiccas joy springs from our kinship with nature and is a merging with the Goddess and God. Wicca doesnt view Deity as distant. The Goddess and God are both within ourselves and manifest in all nature. They are the universal energies which created all in existence, there is nothing that isnt of the Gods. Wicca recognizes Deity as dual- the Goddess and God are equal, omnipresent throughout the universe. Wicca embraces the teaching of reincarnation but doesnt teach that our souls will reincarnate in anything other than a human body. The soul that humans have is not the same sort as that of rocks, trees, snails or birds. Most Wiccans dont believe in fate or predestination. We are free souls with full control and responsibility of our lives. Were creating our futures, shaping the courses of our lives. Once a Wiccan takes full responsibility for all they have done (in this life and past ones) and determines that future actions will be in accord with higher ideals and goals, magic will blossom and life will be a joy.

You must be willing to learn about yourself (who you really are) and then work on enhancing or improving those qualities that make you an individual. When you reach a comfortable stage, you can begin helping others- because that is what the Craft is all about- service to humankind. Inner Planes is how we describe the power of our minds. We as Witches recognize that the techniques of paranormal phenomena and magical application begin in the mind and burst into reality in the world around us. In other words, to think a thing is to create a thing. Whether or not you are a Wiccan Witch is down to how you live, how you deal with others, and how you incorporate Wiccan laws into your life. Only by living who you really are and what you learn (and not just talking about it) do you ever really grow. There are two definite aspects to the work and training of a Witch; the first is the discipline of training the magical will through tried and true methods. The second is the religious training, ritual observances, and spellcrafting techniques learned and practiced. When people from structured religions try to hurt us with lies, gossip, or physical force, they shouldnt be surprised when Witches get upset and fight back. The Wiccan ideal of morality is simple: do what you want, so long as you harm none and do nothing that will harm yourself. As a Wiccan, if you abuse your body, deny it the necessities of life or otherwise harm yourself, youre in violation of this principle. The Earth (temples of meadows, forests, beaches, and deserts) is a manifestation of divine energy. When a Wiccan is outdoors they are actually surrounded by sanctity. Wiccans listen to the Earth. When we lose touch with our blessed planet, we lose touch with Deity.

Required Understanding from Ly Preparatory to the Practice of Ritual

TO BE WITCH We are a priesthood that works specific rituals for specific purposes, and sorcery (magic) because we have the ability, through our trainings, to do so. A Witch is either a woman or a man who knows that he or she is a witch. A true witch is a natural. A Witch realizes certain powers; represents, rather than worships them; calls them Goddess and God and INVOKES them; fuses with them, emotes, and lives them; recognizes them in the vast forces of nature and beyond that. They are secretive in their undertakings and do not proselytize. Theres no such thing as a white (good) or black (bad) witch. There is only a shade of gray, as each witch is answerable only to those powers to which he or she is oathed and to the axiom Do as ye will eer it harm none, which is the only tenet to which we adhere. Two common expressions associated with what constitutes a Witch that are both true: A Witch is born, not made, and It takes a Witch to make a Witch. 1) Its in the blood, no matter how many generations it may not have been acknowledged (and selfpreservation may very well have been why seven or ten or fifteen or more generations ago your ancestor shut up about it and did not pass the knowledge down the line). Like a dormant seed, it waits until the season is fertile for it to germinate. 2) Until the Witch is willing to take initiation when the magic calls, and to actively, consciously, and with free will, walk across the line to live in the world but not of it, and to take the oaths of priesthood, then the line is not crossed. The power will withdraw because it knows the Witch is not ready. Some other time, it seems to say. Thats okay, too, understand, because you wont be the same as everyone else.

Witches work sacred ritual to Earth and Moon and Sun and Star as an outcome of the priesthood and as a means of removing the barriers of separateness that are the current blindness of our species. As a way of keeping the powers strong within our pattern as a people of the Earth, the pattern is of the cycles of the seasons of Earth and Moon and Sun and Star. It is also our responsibility to develop our deeper talents of psychic capacity and the ability to cast enchantments; to study and come to know and understand the ways of the sacred of other people; to constantly strive to broaden our capacity to learn in whatever areas life presents to us and in whatever areas we choose; to treat the whole bloody thing as the art that living most assuredly is, and to perpetuate and project that art as the gifts we can give to life. DO AS YE WILL, EER IT HARM NONE The term harm is perpetrated through either ignorance or intent. Ignorance is a social problem brought about because the flesh we eat is prepackaged and is often not considered flesh. Absolutely everything we consume was killed to feed us. Intent, relative to harm, is all about cowardice. The person who lies creates disillusionment and perpetuates the closed door of their victims intuition and ability to live safely, and knows what he or she is doing. The person who does not consider the repercussions of their actions knows what he or she is doing. To be awake to what you do and to do it without denial, is to honor the interwoven dance of life and death, the certainty of change, your right to choose, and a clear awareness based on the principles of your priesthood, of how you approach, act and resolve each and every event and issue.

The Principles of Wiccan Belief

These are the 13 statements that attempt to define the underlying belief system of Wicca. 1) We practice rites. 2) We recognize that our intelligence fives us a unique responsibility toward our environment.

3) We acknowledge a depth of power far greater than is apparent to the average person. 4) We conceive of the Creative Power in the universe as manifesting through polarity- as masculine and feminine- and that this Creative Power lives in all people. 5) We recognize both outer worlds and inner, or psychological, worlds. 6) We do not recognize any authoritarian hierarchy. 7) We see religion, magic, and wisdom-in-living as united in the way one views the world and lives within it. 8) Calling oneself Witch does not make a Witch. 9) We acknowledge the central role of the affirmation and fulfillment of life. 10) Our only animosity toward Christianity, or toward any other religion or philosophy of life, is to the extent that these institutions have claimed to be the one true right and only way and have sought to deny freedom to others and to suppress other ways of religious practices and beliefs. 11) We do not feel threatened by debates on the history of the Craft, the origins of various terms, or the legitimacy of various aspects of different traditions. 12) We do not accept the concept of absolute evil nor do we worship any entity known as Satan or The Devil as defined by Christian tradition. We do not seek power through the suffering of others, nor do we accept the concept that personal benefits can be derived only by denial to another. 13) We work within Nature for that which is contributory to our health and well being. Not bound by traditions from other times and other cultures, we owe no allegiance to any person or power other than the Divinity manifest through our own being. We welcome and respect all life-affirming teachings and traditions. We seek to learn from all and to share our learning. We do not wish to open ourselves to the destruction of Wicca by those on self-serving power trips, or to philosophies and practices contradictory to these principles. In seeking to exclude those whose ways are

contradictory to ours, we do not want to deny participation with any person who carries a sincere interest in our knowledge and beliefs, regardless of race, color, sex, age, national or cultural origin, or sexual preference.

The Nature of Our Way

Change up your rites as the mood strikes you. As long as the rite attunes you to the Deities, all is well. As often as possible, hold rites in forests, by the sea shore, on deserted mountaintops or near tranquil lakes. A garden or some chamber shall suffice, if it is readied with fumes or flowers. Seek out wisdom in books, rare manuscripts and cryptic poems if you will. Seek it out also in simple stones and fragile herbs and in the cries of wild birds. Listen to the wind and the water if you would discover magic, for it is here that the old secrets are preserved. Trees contain energies and wisdom books neer dreamt of. Ever remember that the Old Ways are constantly revealing themselves. That which remains changeless shall outlive its spirit, but that which evolves and grows will shine for centuries. Share what you will of out ways with others who seek them, but hide mystic lore from the eyes of those who would destroy. Mock not the rituals or spells of another, for who can say yours are greater in power or wisdom? Ensure that your actions are honorable for all that you do shall return to you three-fold, good or bane. Be wary of one who would dominate you, who would control and manipulate your workings and reverences. True reverence for the Goddess and God occurs within. Welcome those who are suffused with love. Honor all living things. Destroy not life save it be to preserve your own.

Thirteen Goals of a Witch

1) Know yourself 2) Know your Craft (Wicca) 3) Learn 4) Apply knowledge with wisdom 5) Achieve balance 6) Keep your words in good order 7) Keep your thoughts in good order 8) Celebrate life 9) Attune with the cycles of the Earth 10) Breathe and eat correctly 11) Exercise the body 12) Meditate 13) Honor the Goddess and God

Words to the Wise

O daughters and sons of the Earth, adore the Goddess and God and be blessed with the fullness of life. Run the rites with love and joy, and the Goddess and God will bless you with all that you need. Live fully, for that is the purpose of life. Walk the fields and forests; be refreshed by the cool winds and the touch of a nodding flower. The Moon and Sun sing in the ancient wild places. We are of the Earth and should revere Her, so do Her honor.

Celebrate the rites on the appropriate days and seasons, and call upon the Goddess and God when the time is meet, but use the Power only when necessary, never for frivolous ends. Know that using the Power for harm is a perversion of Life itself.

For those who love and magnify love, t richness of life shall be your reward.

The Law of the Power

The Power shall not be used to bring harm, to injure, or to control others. But if the need arises, the Power shall be used to protect your life or the lives of others. The Power is used only as need dictates. The Power can be used for your own gain, as long as by doing so you harm none. It is unwise to accept money for use of the Power, for it quickly controls its taker. Be not as those of other religions. Use not the Power for prideful gain, for such cheapens the mysteries of Wicca and magic. Ever remember that the Power is the sacred gift of the Goddess and God, and should never be misused or abused. And this is the Law of the Power.

The Ethics of Personal Power

The lifescape of magic and Witchcraft is a place and a way of being rather than the paradigm of

something one does. There is no walking away from this once it has called your name and you have willingly

answered. The forces that you work with will continue to feed and inspire you; and everything ends up being looked at through eyes that know how to see. You will come into contact with others of the Craft. These like-minded individuals can become an important focus for honor and truth, and they will be powerful allies should the need arise. The reason for the seeking of knowledge, and the practical application of it, is to become that which your soul knows you are, by your very nature, and to be a vessel for this knowledge to create change in accordance with the pattern inherent in magic and mysticism. Your prime expression comes from who you are, the direction of your learning, and the application of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Personal power is a natural growth process that develops as a result of the life you live in the way of the witch. It is the ability to disappear when you want to and appear when you want to. It is an energy, a presence about oneself that will require a firm rein for the first few years. This field is neither a conscious, nor consciously acquired, function. Personal power is a direct result of accessing the lifescape of magic and of living within its field. It is an accumulation of awareness, preparation, intent, and your ability to focus, all through the vessel of the self. SERVICE You service the focus with which you interrelate. You are in service to life itself. This is our deity, which we consider both our Goddess and our God. Your service is to the truth of that which you perpetuate and the need to be on call when you are moved by the intelligence of these forces. You will strive to dispel unwarranted fear by reaching beyond the face of fear to seek its source. To know and understand what it is that engenders fear enables us to penetrate and address perceived inadequacies where possible, hence to grow beyond what we thought we were. You will trust that the thrust of you destiny, which places you in a situation you dont consciously want to be in, is leading you on your quest. Seek to understand why without

necessarily comprehending the entirety of the process. Understanding yourself is the first key; seeking to reconcile seeming opposites is the second key; coming to know that, and how, magic works is the third key. The trainings are there to help you become clear, to allow your brightness and purpose to be absolutely awakened along with any and all latent psychic talents; but it takes art to keep the balance.

Lys Notes on Human Nature

The most important aspect of a well-trained initiate is the acquisition of balance. There are four sides to the nature of people: 1. The bright, laughing, joyous side, the side we have been taught in our culture to honor and to seek to show the world; the side that is at peace and is not fulfilled. 2. The quester; the one that seeks to change what is immediately perceived as limiting. This side of peoples nature is concerned with what is on the outside. It is the side that seeks to imprint ones very existence on both other people and our environment (it seeks the relevance of immortality), and it is not fulfilled. 3. The third side is all mixed up with learning and patterns, understanding, creativity, and curiosity. It is a very brave side, but it is not fulfilled. 4. The dark side? The hidden one? In our culture, because of Mulengro, we are taught this side is wrong and should be suppressed, destroyed, that it is evil and dangerous. We are taught to seek to fulfill the other three (to be nice!!) and to deny the fourth, and as a consequence, it becomes a dragon within the self! All our pain, both physical and emotional, all our dead ends, our unresolved angers and resentments, all our futilities pour down the tunnel of the psyche to the individual underworlds of each of us- and stay there! This is our wild side! It is the most powerful side, as within it resides not only all our

experiences, but our racial and instinctual memories, our attachment to the collective unconscious, our ability to perpetuate the first three on the list, to transcend considered limitations, to survive- even our will to live. Within it resides our ability to protect as well as to procreate and perpetuate, our sense of union with our planet and with those things on our planet that have not yet been subdued, tamed, or destroyed, and our ability to work sympathetic magic. This side is like a wild horse. There are different ways to coerce it to become ridable. Brutality is one way (but what about the horses spirit!). Empathy, firmness, and patience are another way- a way that ensures a different kind of mount. All of the techniques are about establishing a bond between horse and rider. MULENGRO Mulengro could be considered to be like the devil Christianity invented in the Middle Ages. It denies the individual the right to be an individual and assures that its victims remain emotionally crippled. It is passed on like a virus through the perpetuation of the seven attributes (deadly sins in Catholicism) of greed, envy, guilt, deceit, denial, expectation and assumption. The only way to rid the psyche and the spirit of the virus is to abruptly and completely stop hosting it! Do not allow others to perpetuate any of these seven faces of Mulengro on you, and do not use them to abort the truth, no matter what the seeming advantage. These faces are all vices of disrespect. I warn you that the eradication of these acceptable modes of behavior will place you squarely outside of the general flow of the social stratum. Thats okay. The Way of a witch is not for everyone. FEAR

The word fear means to cast enchantments. Fear is about not having, and it rises up into consciousness when one is not ready, or prepared in some way, for certain expected or anticipated eventualities. Fear warns of probable danger, and I listen to it because if is always correct. Fear is your ally! It is your instinct to survive. Worry is a useless thing. Resolution is the key to distress. AWARENESS In all of your undertakings, have all your senses working at their fullest potency; this is necessary in your magical, ritual, and personal activities. Awareness is the activation of the Nemet. Awareness is the ability to literally read the feeling in the air. Awareness means control of ones undertakings. INTENT Know, at all times, why you are doing what you are doing. Know your own motives well. Exercise caution in your undertakings, as each action, each thought, is to be clearly of your own choosing. FOCUS Focus is achieved when you link emotion and intellect in one function for the purpose of actualization, by will, of a desired outcome. It does not allow the mind or the heart to act independently of the purpose it seeks to attain.

The Wheel of the Year

Witches work ritual at each of these Sabbats, and at the correct phases of the Moon, throughout the Wheel of the World. All that is runs through your veins, and to celebrate this is what your priesthood is about. Living the Wheel enables us to flow more freely with our individual destinies. Symbolism of the Four Fire Festivals from Ly DeAngeles

Samhain: The Feast of the Dead. The celebration of the reign of the dark Goddess, Queen of the Underworld (Summerland). The time when the veil-between-the-worlds is thinnest. Samhain initiates winter. Imbolc: The Feast of Bride. The rise of the child Goddess, virgin queen, Goddess of all wild things. The time of the-waking-of-the-world. The Feast of Bride initiates spring. Beltane or Beltaen: The Great Rite of the Goddess. Sacred marriage to the Sun King through His rite of the hunt. The summoning of the power of Great Stag; celebration of fecundity(prolific: producing abundantly). Beltane initiates summer. Lammas or Candlemas: Festival of the Goddess of Magic. The time of enchantments queen; the power of the initiator is celebrated here, and the passage of the sacrifice of God (initiation proper); rite of the high priestess, Goddess incarnate. Lammas (Oimelc) celebrates the light-bringer and the harvest, and lit initiates autumn. Of Solstice and Equinox Yule or Winter Solstice: Rebirth of the Sun God. The boyhood and training of the once and future king. Ostara or Spring Equinox: Symbolic and actual mating of the Sun King with the daughter and priestess of the Moon. His initiation as both priest and king.

Litha, Midsummer, or Summer Solstice: Sacrifice of the Sun King, leading to the harvest of his reign. Transformation. Mabon or Autumn Equinox: His descent into the realms of the Underworld (Summerland). Power from the Dark Lord to the Virgin Queen of Initiation. The Eight-Fold Wheel of the Year Sabbat Samhain Yule Imbolc/Candlemas Ostara Beltane Litha Lammas Mabon Southern Hemisphere May 1 June 21 approx. August 2 September 21 approx. October 31 December 21 approx. February 2 March 21 approx. Northern Hemisphere October 31 December 21 approx. February 2 March 21 approx. May 1 June 21 approx. August 2 September 21 approx.